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Dr Magdalena Wajrak

Lecturer

Current Teaching

• SCC1123 - Chemistry for the Life Sciences
  
• SCC1111 - General Chemistry
  
• SCC3202 - Environmental Chemistry and Analysis
• SCC3304 - Chemistry Project
• SCI3120 - Natural Sciences Project

Background

• 2005-present: Chemistry Lecturer (Level B), School of Natural Sciences, ECU, WA
• 2001-2001: Chemistry Lecturer (Level B), Chemistry Department, University of New England, NSW
• 2000-2001: Online Tutor Designer, CADRE Pty Ltd, Sydney, NSW; Research Officer, Monitoring Technologies International, Osborne Park, WA
• 1999-2000: Computing Lecturer (Level A), Kurongkurl Katitjin School, ECU, WA
• 1998-1999: Research Officer, Dr Judy Edwards, MLA, Maylands, WA
• 1995-2004: Sessional Chemistry Tutor and Demonstrator, School of Natural Sciences, ECU, WA

Professional Memberships

• Member of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (MRACI C CHEM)
• Member of the Australian Institute of Radiochemical Engineering (AIRE), Radiochemistry Education Committee
• Member of HERDSA
• Member of the Advancing Science by Enhancing Learning in the Laboratory Project (ASELL)

Awards and Recognition

University and National Teaching Awards

• 2012: Office for Learning and Teaching, Australian Awards for University Teaching - '2012 Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning'
  
• 2007: National Teaching Award - ‘2007 Pearson Education RACI Chemical Educator of the Year Award’
• 2003: National Teaching Award - ‘The Royal Australian Chemical Institute Centenary of Federation Teaching (Tertiary) Award in Chemistry’
• 2004: ECU Award - The Vice-Chancellor's Excellence in Teaching Award

National and International Research Positions

• 2010: HERDSA Fellow

Research Areas and Interests

• Voltammetric methods for low level detection of arsenic and lead in water and soil samples.
• Voltammetric method for the detection of barium, lead and antimony in gunshot residues.
• Investigation of the factors that affect deposition of arsenic on the surface of solid gold electrode.
• Designing multimedia chemistry teaching resources, novel experiments and lecture demonstrations for chemistry students.
• Electrochemistry
• Chemical Education

Staff Qualifications

• Diploma in Education, Edith Cowan University, 2001 .
• PhD, The University of Western Australia, 2001 .
• Bachelor of Science Honours, The University of Western Australia, 1992 .

Research

Recent Research Grants

• Quantitative surface depth profiling of electrochemically deposited arsenic on gold electrode using ERD analysis,  Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering,  Grant,  2011,  $6,936.
• Investigation of Arsenic Film Electrodeposited on Solid Gold Electrode Using Sims Instrument,  Australian Institute of Nuclear Science and Engineering,  Grant,  2011,  $13,359.
• Investigating the Surface of Gold Electrode Subjected to Electrochemical Processes Using Soft X-Ray,  Synchrotron,  Grant,  2008,  $1,700.
• Investigation of the chemical profile of the gold electrode in ASV detection of arsenic,  Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering,  Grant,  2008,  $9,811.
• Investigation of conditioning methods on the gold electrode surface employed in electro analyses of arsenic.,  Australian Institute of Nuclear Science & Engineering,  Grant,  2007,  $12,400.

Recent Publications (within the last five years)

Book Chapters

• Wajrak, M., (2010), Investigating the surface of solid gold electrode to improve the sensitivity of anodic stripping voltammetry for arsenic detection. Arsenic in Geosphere and Human Diseases; Arsenic 2010: Proceedings of the Third International Congress on Arsenic in the Environment (As-2010) , 1(10), 487-489, USA.
• Wajrak, M., (2009), Infield detection of arsenic using a portable digital voltameter, PDV6000. Natural arsenic in groundwaters of Latin America, 245-253, The Netherlands.
• Wajrak, M., Perkins, T., (2009), Authentic Assessment ? Mission Possible or Mission Impossible?. Enhancing Teaching and Learning through Assessment: Experience from the Project, 177-195, The Netherlands.
• Wajrak, M., (2008), Electrochemistry. Scientifica, 512, New South Wales.

Conference Publications

• Lewtas, P., Wajrak, M., (2012), Improved rinsing procedure for samples containing sulfide and organic interferences in determination of arsenic by voltammetry. Understanding the Geological and Medical Interface of Arsenic, As 2012 - 4th International Congress: Arsenic in the Environment, 400-401.
• Wajrak, M., McCafferty, P., (2012), Validation of Portable Digital Voltammeter, PDV6000+ Instrument for Detection of Lead in Rain Water Samples in Esperance, Western Australia. Heavy Metals in the Environment: Selected Papers from the ICHMET-15 Conference, 2(19-23 September 2010), 273-286, Leiden, The Netherlands, DOI: 10.5645/b.2.23.
• Ahmed, M., Munroe, P., Jiang, Z., Zhao, X., Wajrak, M., Guo, H., Rickard, W., Xie, Z., (2012), Corrosion- and damage-resistant nitride coatings for steel. Journal of the American Ceramic Society, 95(21-23 July 2011), 2997-3004, DOI: 10.1111/j.1551-2916.2012.05328.x.
• Braungardt, C., Butterfield, M., Wajrak, M., (2010), On-site mine water analysis:application note for the PDV6000plus. Proceedings 2010 International Mine Water Association Symposium ? Mine Water and Innovative Thinking, 1(5-9 September 2010), 331-335, Sydney, Nova Scotia.
• Wajrak, M., Hart, R., Prince, K., (2010), Investigation of Electrochemically Deposited Arsenic on the Surface of Solid Gold Electrodes using SIMS, SEM and Synchrotron Soft X-rays. Proceedings of the 16th Australian Conference on Nuclear and Complementary Techniques of Analysis NCTA 2009, 1-5, Online.
• Wajrak, M., (2010), Investigating the surface of solid gold electrode to improve the sensitivity of anodic stripping voltammetry for arsenic detection. Arsenic in Geosphere and Human Diseases AS2010. Arsenic in the Environment - Proceedings, 1(17 May-21 May 10), 487-489, The Netherlands.
• McCafferty, P., Wajrak, M., (2009), Utilisation and Validation of a Rapid, On-Site Capability for Metal Analysis. Proceedings from Ozwater '09, Australia's national water conference and exhibition, 5p., Artarmon, N.S.W.